Safety



Patented June 3, 1919. 5 SHEETS-SHEE l I I I I I I I 1915@ .E

wqs. LEvlN. AUTOMATIC BLOCK SIGNAL SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE 30 1915.

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APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1915.

Patented Jupe 3,1919.

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W. S. LEVIN.

AUTOMATlC BLOCK SIGNAL SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 0. 1915.

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AUTOMATIC BLOCK slQNAL SYsEM.

APPLICATION FILED IUN` 30. i915.

Patented J une 3, 1919.

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W. S.'LEVIN.

l AUTOMATIC BLOCK slGNAL SYSTEM.

V APPLICATION FILED IUNE 30. |915. 1,305,382. Panted June 3, I919.

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WALTER S. LEVIN, 0F SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T0 THE NATIONAL SAFETY APPLIANCE COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORA- TION OF CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC BLOCK-SIGNAL SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 3, 1919 y Application filed June 30, 1915. Serial No. 37,142.

To all whom z't may concern Be it known that I, WALTER S. LnvrN, a citizen of the United States,'and a resident of San Francisco, county of San Francisco, State of California., have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Block-Signal Systems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an automatic block signal system which I have specially designed for use with an engine equipment consisting of devices respectively t'or both visible and audible signals and for automatically applying air brakes.

This invention more particularly relates to a combination of relays in which combination is included a time limit relay for controlling` the circuits and for limiting the length of time that the track magnet is energized. I

One of the objects of my invention 1s to insure accuracy of operation by the provision of safety devices to lock the various relays in their operative positions and to keep them so locked that the traffic conditions cannot interfere with ltheir etlicient operation. y

Other objects will fully appear to those skilled in the art from the hereinafter description taken in connection with the accom panying drawings, in which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in the several views.

The engine equipment for use with this system is fully set forth in my co-pendlng application Serial No. 23,587, tiled April Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is shown on two sheets. The right half of this figure appearing on Sheet 1 and theleft haltl appearing on Sheet 2. The entire figure showing two adjacent blocks with their respect-ive circuit control.

As isI usual in railroad signal systems, the track 1s divided into la plurality of blocks, each block being insulated one fromV 'the other at suitable rail joints. Each block isV provided at its respective ends with a battery connected to the rails and with a track relay also connected to the rails and in the center with an insulated section of track upon one sidethereof. A circuit which is included in the track circuit isvcontrolled by a protective relay and is shunted around the said insulated portion of track. The entrance of aV train into either end of theblock shunts out the track relay orv the battery as the case may be and causes the armature of track relay to drop, thus opening the line contacts to set the necessary signals.

The circuits of two complete block signals are shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, but only as controlling the operation of the track magnets which co-act with the automatic brake apparatus of the engine equipment. Circuits coperating with the track magnets for controlling the various other signals such as the clear caution and stop signals operate in a similar manner and are omitted from the drawing for the purpose of simplicity and clearness.

Referring now to Fig. Sheets l and 2;

Block 1 is insulated from the adjacent block at one end by the insulating joints A and B and from block 2 by the insulating joints H and I and block 2 is insulated from its other adjacent block by the insulating joints U and V. j f

In each block at the signal location two l contained on more insulating joints are used, in' block Y1 at F and G and in block 2 at P and Q.. These joints do not break the track circuits which are shunted around them by wires 1 and 2 through armature 3 of the protective relay 4.

As will be hereinafter explained, the disarrangement or failure of any of' the location apparatus, batteries, wires, etc.,will cause this protective relay to drop its armature, thus opening the track circuit and causing the display of the same signals as would be displayed if theblock were occupied by a train. Atthe right end of block 1, a track battery D is connected to each side of the track by wires C andE near the insulations A and B, the vcurrent from the battery being with no train in the block, this relay attracts its armature and connects Ythe battery O by means of line Wires 7 and 8 to magnet 9 of the line relay in block 2. At the left end of block 2 is a track battery SconnectedV to the rails by Wires R and T near the insulating rail joints U and V, the current from the battery being carried by rails to the insulating joints H and I through the Wires 10 and 11 to track relay K of block 2, the current being shunted around the insulated rail section bef tween P and Q of block 2 through the circuit controlled by the protective relay in block 2 as clearly shown.

In its normal position With no train in block 2, the relay K attracts its armature L and connects the battery M by means of Wires 12 and 13 With a magnet 9 of line relay of block numberl. It should be said for the sake of clearness that in actual practice, the blocks are not as closely connected as shown, the locations of the mechanisms for operating the caution, stop andautomatic stop signals allowing the engineer ample time to bring his train to a stop before the air is automatically applied. The space between the automatic stops control ling opposing train movements enables both trains to stop clear of each other if the brake has been automatically applied.

The mechanism for automatically operating the brake is placed far enough from the danger Zone to bring the train to a stop before it can enter that zone in the event that the engineer pays no heed to the Warning signals.

In the event that tWo trains should enter adjacent blocks at the same time, one entering at A and B and the other entering at U-V, then the batteries D and S Which supply current for the relays J and K are shunted out by the Wheels of the trains bridging the rails, thereby causing the armatures N and L of these relays to drop, thus cutting out the batteries O and M from the magnets 9 of the line relays of blocks 1 and 2 thereby dropping the armature 14 and its contact finger 15.

The character of the instruments, Wiring,v

of a battery 19 and the current therefore travels through thefwire 1S, the armature 14, contact 16, Wire 2O to the magnet 21 of the line relay thence .through Wire 22 to the other pole of the batteryi`19 rthereby Yenergizing the magnet 21 and securely holding the finger 15 against its contact 17. The track' magnet 23 is now set, that is to say., ready to be energized upon the closure of contact 55, as hereinafter described, but no further movement of any part takes place "until the forward truck of the engine passes insulating joint F. At the insulating joint G, a local battery 24 is connected to the rails by Wires 25 and 2G. The current from this battery cannotv enter the main track cir cuit as it is prevented from so doing by the insulating joints F and G, Which joints, it may be here stated, are at a distance apart of tivo rail lengths. At F the Wires 27 and 28 connect the magnet 29 of the time limit relay and the current Which is normally ap# plied through the rails by the battery causes this magnet to attract and hold up the contact lingers 30 and 31, 32 and 33.`

thus holding open the contacts 34, 35, 36 and 37. A

lVhen the forward truck of the engine passes the insulating joint F, its Wheels bridge the rails and operateto shunt the magnet 29 out of circuit, and being thus de'energized, the contact lingers 30, 31, 32 and 33 are caused to drop. The Contact linger 31 is connected by Wires 38 and 39 with one pole of the battery 19 and the current travels throughthese Wires to Wire 40 thence to magnet 41 thence through Wire 42 to the other pole of the battery 19. The function of this magnet 41 is to lock-the armature contact lingers 32 and 33 securely against the contacts 35 and 37. As the contact lingers 32 and 33 drop, the current travels from the battery 19 through the Wire 39 and contact 37 to the contact finger 33 thence ro contact linger. 32 thence through the lcontact 35 and Wire 43 to solenoid 44 thence through Wire 45 to contact 4G thence through Contact linger 47 and Wires 48 and 22 tothe other pole of the battery 19. To the core 49 of the solenoid 44 is attached a frame 50 which is connected to pistons of tivo dash-pots 51 and rIhe frame 50 carries tivo projec tions 53 and 54. The function of the projection 53 is to normally depress the lever 55 and the function of the projection is to lift the armature and contact fingers 47 and 56 attached thereto to a point near the magnet 57, which magnet is so designed that it will not attract the armature from the distance at Which it normally rests. lllhen'the solenoid 44 is energized and the core drawn up, the projection releases the lever 55 and the projection 54 raises the armature carrying the contact `finge-rs 47 and 5G into a position at which the armature Will be attracted and held in place by the magnet 57.

As the core 49 reaches the end of its upwardV travel, the -circuit of the solenoid 44 is broken by reason of the contact linger 47 being held disconnected from its contact point by the magnet 57. The circuit of said magnet 57 is controlled by a contact linger 30 which is connected to one pole of the battery 19 by wires 38 and 3,9. The contact finger 30 co-acts with the contact 34 which is connected by a wire 58 to the magnet 57 and from said magnet 57 by means of wires 48 and 22 to the opposite pole of said battery 19. Y

lAs above described, when the core 49 rises, the projection 53 allows the lever 55 to descend thereby closing the circuit to the track magnet 23V bymeans of the wire 59 from battery 19 thence through said magnet 23 and wire 60 to the lever 55 thence by contact 61 and wire 62 to contact 17 thence by contact finger 15 and wire 18 to the other pole of thebattery 19.

The dash-pots are so arranged that their retarding` action takes place on the downwardinovement of the core 49 thus permitting ,the current to remain in the track magnet until such .time as the projection 53 has again depressed the lever 55 to open the circuit of the track magnet. The track magnet contacts cannot be set for another operation until the train has cleared the short rail section between insulating joints F, G, which permit the current to again pass through the magnet 29 thereby attracting its armatures to break the circ-nit of the magnet 57, permitting contact fingers 47 and 56 to return to their normal-position.

The function of the protective relay 4 is as follows lith the line and time limit relays in their normal positions, the relay 4 lis connected across the open circuit between the lever 55 and the contact 61 by means of the wire 63-tocontact finger 56 thence by contact (S4-and wire 65 to relay 4 thence by wire 66 to. contact 61. The lever 55 is connected by wire 60 to track magnet 23 thence by wire 59 to one pole of the battery 19. Its circuit is completed by wire 66 to wire 62 thence to a high resistance 67 (bridged across the terminals of armature 14 Vand wire 62) thence by wire 18 to the other pole of the battery.

The relay 4-is of highresistance and the resistance connected in series with it at 67 reduces its operating current to an amount just suihcient to enable it to securely retain its armature 3. Any diminution of voltage of the battery 19 below its normal operating point, ywill cause the magnet 4 to weaken, thus dropping the armature 3 and opening the'track circuit by means of the wires 1 and 2 and thus set'the proper danger signals the same as if the block were occupied by a train. The breaking of any wire in the external circuit will also produce the same result. Should the local battery 24 or its connections 25 and 26 fail or should A the wires 27 or 28 leading to the magnet 29 be broken thus causing the plunger 49 toV be operated, then the relay 4 will be cut out by the opening of the contact between contactl finger 56 and contact 64. The opening of these contacts in the ordinary course of the inductive spark occurring on breakingv Y the circuit. Auxiliary carbon contacts (not shown) are also provided between the lever 55 and contact 61 to further protect the contacts against sparking.

The time limit relay referred to in the foregoing description will now be described in detail, reference being made to Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5.

The time limit relay comprises a top plate 70 to Which the various magnets are secured; a mid-plate 71 secured by pillars 72 to the top plate and a bottom plate 73 connected in any suitable manner to the top plate 70, the sides of the casing consisting of glass plates secured in any suitable way between the top and bottom plates. The electromagnet 29 is secured to the top plate 70 and is provided with an L-shaped pole piece 29a, the horizontal portion of which coacts with the armature 29g. This armature is pivoted at 29d and carries the Contact fingers 32 and 33. The locking magnet 41 is secured to the top place by brackets 41a and .is provided with extended pole pieces 41b which underlie the armature 29C and are adapted to co-act with said armature.

The portions 29b of the pole piece of the magnet 29 are adapted to co-act with the armature 29f This armature is pivoted at 29e and carries contact fingers 30 and 31. These fingers are normally out of Contact with their respective Contact points 34 and 36 and the same thing is true of the fingers 32 and 33 with respect to the contact points 35 and 37.

Vhen a. train enters the insulated rail section, it shunts out the circuit which normally flows through magnet 29 thusallowing the armatures 29c arid 29f to drop. This completes the circuits as set forth in the foregoing description of the system and energizes magnet 41 which securely holds thevarmature 29c and its Contact fingers in their operative position. The solenoid 44 is provided with a double core 49 to which is secured a frame 50 comprising a top cross bar 50a secured to each core and a bottom cross bar 50h secured together by spacing rods 50c.

Secured to the bottom cross bar 50b are the piston rods 51"1 and 52a of the pistons manner that they afford very little break during the upward movement when the solenoid is energized, the ball check valves 51C and 52@ allowing the air to escape freely. Conversely when the solenoids are deenergized and gravity causes the frame to descend, the dash-pots operate as a timing device to govern the rate of travel. A threaded rod 50d having a head 50g is secured to the bottom cross bar 50h and is provided with a am nut`50e by neans of which it may be firmly held in any predetermined position. is a rectangular lever frame pivoted at 55a to bars secured in the midplate 7l. This frame is provided at one end with the .contact fingers 55h and at the opposite end with an extension piece 55C having an aperture therein through which the rod 50d passes.

The solenoid 4i is normally denergized and therefore the frame is in -the position shown with'the head 50g of rod 50d in engagement with the extension piece 55c of the pivoted frame 55 thereby holding the contact fingers b out of engagement with the contacts 61.

Secured to the cross bar 50a is a post 54a which extends downwardly therefrom and to the lower face of which is secured a projecting finger 5%.

The armature 57 is pivoted at 57b and is normally out of range of the effective magnetic field of magnet 57 and its contact lingers ri7 and 5G are normally in engagement with their respective contacts. hen the solenoid it is energized, the cores 49 move upwardly and after a short interval of time, the projecting finger 5st engages a block of insulation 57C secured to the armature 57a. As the finger 5l continues its upward travel, it rocks the armature 57a on its pivot 57b causingl its contact fingers 47 and 5G to move out of engagement with their contacts and at the same time bringing the armature 57a into the effective field of the magnetic flux so that said armature is held up as long as there is suflicient current iowing through magnet 57.

The condenser 69 is supported between the mid-plate 71 anda similar plate 71L secured to the pillars 7 2.

The condenser GS is secured by cross bars 74; and 74a which are secured to the pillars 7 2a.

Functions 07 the various relays used n this system.

Track relay.

One of these instruments is used at the end of every block and supplied With current through the rails by a battery at the other end of the block. In its normal, or clear position, its armature is held up and, while in that position, holds all signals clear 4on thel lines to which it is connected. When Line relay..

These instruments are used at every signal location, the number required depending on the character of the signals to be given at that particular location. For a location displaying a clear and caution signal, one line relay is required, operating the clear signal in its normal or closed position and operating the caution signal in its open position. For locations displaying a danger signal or operating an automatic stop, one line relay is required for each operation; these give no signal in their normal or closed positions, but only display a signal or operate the automatic stop when in the open posi-y tion.y Line relays are connected, through necessary battery and line wires, to the front contacts of track relays, z'. e., the contacts which are normally closed. The opening and closing of these contacts, as above described, effects a corresponding operation of the line relays.

Time Zz'mz't relay/8.

One of these instruments is used at every signal and stop location, only one being required regardless of the number or character of the signals displayed at that particular location. This relay cuts the track magnet into circuit as the engine reaches a point two rail lengths from the signal location, holds said track magnet in circuit for a period of approximately twelve to fifteen seconds and then cuts it out of circuit. If any portion ofthe train is lstill passing over the insulated rail section lof the signal location after the lapse of fifteen seconds or if a car'is left, for any reason, over the insulated rail section, the relay will still hold the magnet box circuit open and will not return to its normal position until the train or car has cleared the insulated rail section. As the insulated rail section at locations is clear of the rest of the block, the relay is arrangedA to give a Warning signal on adjacent blocks in case a car or light engine is left standing in the insulated rail' section. Another feature is the giving warning by the operation of the relay itself in case the local battery or any of the external wiring to track connections fail from any cause.

The operation of my above described system is brieiiy as follows When a train equippedas described in my application Serial No. 23,587, filed April 24th, 1915, enters a block before the train ahead clears itself from the adjacent (or some other selected) block, the track relays of the respective blocks are denergized causing the line relays to operate to'set the track magnet, which is situated adjacent an insulated section of track. When the track magnet is in this condition and the train enters the insulated section befo-re the train ahead is clear of its block, the time limit relay is operated and causes the track magnet to be energized, and remains in that condition for a length of vtime suflicient to cause the signals or the automatic brake to operate upon the train which is moving at a minimum rate of speed. The time for which the magnet is energized is made variable by adjusting the size and construction of the dash-pots and pistons.

By setting the relayV to cut out ten seconds after it has been started it may be used to enforce a definite speedreduction to enable an engineer to run past an automatic stop location. For instance-with the local track circuit at each location two rail lengths, or 66 ft. long, it will take an engine twelve seconds to travel that distance when going at the rate of four miles an hour; therefore, the track magnet will have been cut out before the engine passes over it thus preventing the application of the brakes. It will not, however, prevent the resuming of a higher speed once the automatic stop has been passed.

The relay prevents waste of battery by Y preventing the track magnet from being kept in circuit for a longer period than fifteen seconds which is ample time to deliver a signal to the slowest train, the lockout magnets, which accomplish this purpose, are of relatively high resistance and require little current for their operation.

While the above described relay forms a positive and eiiicient instrument, it is to be understood that details of construction may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, I intend that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I desire it also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specie features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters lPatent is 1. In a device of the kind described, a time limit relay including two magnets, a

track magnet, a separate circuit for each magnet, a single source,ofclectrical energv common to the track magnet and one of the relay magnets, means for energizing I one magnet of the relay when the other magnet is denergized.

2. In a device of the kind described, a

time limit relay including two magnets, a

cuits, a source of electrical energy common to the track magnet circuit and to the circuit of one of the relay magnets, means for energizing one magnet of the relay when the other magnet is denergized to hold the circuit of the track magnet in condition to be subsequently closed, and means for closing said circuit.

4. In a device of the class described, an insulated section of track, a time limit relay, a track magnet, a magnet controlling the said time limit relay in circuit with said insulated section of track, means operated` with the time limit relay normally holding the circuit of the track magnet open, and means for energizing the track magnet, said means being controlled in its operation by the time limit relay.

5. In a device of the class specified, an insulated section of track, a time limit relay and a track magnet, a protective relay controlling a circuit shunted around said section, means for energizing said protective relay included in circuit with the time limit l relay and the track magnet, and means for denergizing said protective relay upon the breaking or failure of action lof any portion of the controlling circuit.

6. In an automatic block signal system, a solenoid, a plurality of electro-magnets controlling the operation of the solenoid, a source of electrical energy, a track magnet, and means controlled by the solenoid for controlling the circuit of said track magnet.

7 In an automatic block signal system, a track magnet, an electric circuit therefor, a solenoid, an electric circuit therefor, a source of electrical energy common to the two circuits, an electro-magnet in circuit with said source of electrical energy for locking closed the circuit of the solenoid, and means operated by the solenoid for completing the circuit of the track magnet and for breaking the circuit of the solenoid.

8. In an automatic block signal system, an insulated section of track, a track mag- *.net, a plurality of electro-magnets, one of locking magnet 'for said second set of con-- tact lingers, a source of electrical energy in circuit with said locking magnet, a solenoid the circuit of which is controlled by the said second set of contact fingers when in their locked position, means operated by the solenoid for controlling the circuit of said track magnet, and means also controlled by the solenoid for breaking its own circuit.

9. In an automatic block signal system, a

circuit normally open at one point, a source of electrical energy, a relay in said circuit and a resistance across said open point.

10.*In an automatic block signal system, a circuit normally open at a plurality o: points, a source of electrical energl a relay connected across one of said points, and a resistance connected across another of said points. t f

In `Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand at the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, this 21st day of June, v1915.

WALTER S. LEVIN. In presence of- S. A. BosTWIcK, H. R. BosTwIGK.

Copies of this patent may 'be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington,v D. C. 

